Jodie Prenger is gearing up to take on another iconic role.
From September she’ll be playing Helen in Shelagh Delaney’s explosive play, A Taste of Honey. The National Theatre
tour will arrive in Belfast, playing at the Grand Opera House from 15th to 19th
October.

Written when Delaney was just 19, and set in her native
Salford, A Taste of Honey explores
life for Helen and her daughter Jo as they move between tenements and struggle
to not only survive, but thrive, in a harsh world where poverty is never far
away.

‘A dear friend of
mine, Bobby Delaney – ironically, no relation – gave it to me to read. And I absolutely
fell in love with it.’ Jodie describes what attracted her to the role, ‘It was so real and so honest and tender.
It was the mother and daughter relationship that got me ‘right there’. My nan
and that side of my family were from Manchester. It was just like hearing my
nan’s voice. The feistiness and the fight that my nan had; I saw a lot of her
in Helen.

Delaney sent the script, her first, written in a frenzy
after her first live theatre experience just two weeks before when a friend
took her to the Opera House in Manchester, to Joan Littlewood, who was running
the Theatre Workshop at the time. ‘I
watched this great documentary on Shelagh Delaney, where they followed her on a
tour around Salford and the markets of Salford, and where she met real
characters. These are the real people and real relationships you see in the
play. It was taboo-breaking sixty years ago, but it’s still poignant today,’ Jodie
explains.

A Taste of Honey
was first produced at Theatre Royal Stratford East in London, before
transferring to the West End. The play experienced phenomenal success, with a
Broadway run that featured Joan Plowright and Angela Lansbury. Many people
remember Tony Richardson’s 1961 BAFTA winning film adaptation with Rita
Tushingham as Jo.

The play was produced at the National Theatre in 2014,
directed by Bijan Sheibani whose recent hits include Barber Shop Chronicles, and designed by Olivier Award-winning
designer Hildegard Bechtler. The pair reunite for this tour, reconceiving their
critically acclaimed production. ‘What
Bijan and Hildegard are set on is rooting the play in the 1950’s but making
sure it is relevant and poignant for today. There’s a live band who’ll play
music on stage, there’ll be songs. That’ll really get that rhythm of the period
and the vitality of these characters across.’

Of the divisive Helen, who abandons her teenage daughter after
meeting Peter, a car salesman, Jodie is protective; ‘I don’t think she’s a monster. I just think she’s real. The only way
to play a character like Helen is to be real. With a show like this you have to
play the truth. She’s a character of circumstance.’ She’s also extremely
funny. Throughout the play Helen and her daughter trade devastating quips and
insults; ‘The
wit comes through in the writing. That’s why this play is still so popular
today. People want that darkness, but they also want the wit and the humour. I
just played Beverly in Abigail’s Party on tour. That was very much dark comedy
mixed with humour; I relish the challenge of balancing the two.’

The play was revolutionary at the time of its premiere in
1958, putting women centre stage and depicting previously marginalised
characters, such as black sailor Jimmy and gay art student Geoff. ‘We’ve come a long way, but we’ve still got
a long way to go. I read somewhere that the original cast were warned they
might have to evacuate the theatre if the audience reacted negatively. That
wouldn’t happen today’ Jodie says. ‘Shelagh
Delaney has written these characters without any prejudice. It’s great to keep
the messages and themes of the play alive. These are important subjects which
still need to be explored.’

‘You always feel
pressure,’ Jodie says when asked about playing an iconic character
previously portrayed by the likes of Dora Bryan, Angela Lansbury and Lesley
Sharp. She smiles, ‘But then you roll
your sleeves up – that’s my nan’s ethic; ‘get stuck in’. That’s what gives you
the confidence to just go for it and create your own character. It does develop
in rehearsals, and changes depending on the cast you work with. This Helen will
be different.’

The play was first performed 61 years ago and Jodie feels it stands the test of time: ‘The northern writing, there’s a real depth to it. There’s a warmth about it. I’ve been doing a lot of research and have some pictures depicting how people lived in Salford back then. They had the humour to get them through. That’s what comes across so clearly in this play, even today.’ And of the negative depiction by some quarters of Delaney as an angry young woman, Jodie disagrees; ‘Joan Littlewood unleashed a strong female voice on the world, which around the time was largely unheard of. It was very brave. I was brought up by strong women – there’s nothing better!’